Deal-Street Africa [December 6-10]: TradeDepot Raises USD 110 Mn; 3 Major Acquisitions

Nigeria’s SendChamp Raises USD 100 K Angel Round

SendChamp raised a USD 100 K round to bridge the communications gap for African businesses after 8 months in stealth mode. The close of the round also marks the public launch of the startup’s offerings, as it exits a private beta. The angel round saw participation from local angel syndicates like DFSLAB, Hustler Capital, Hoaq Club, Velocity Digital, and angel investors including Prosper Otemuyiwa, Samson Goddy, Merijn Campsteyn, Ayo Arikawe, and Lanre Ogungbe. 

Nigeria’s Flex Finance Raises Pre-Seed Funding To Scale

Nigerian fintech startup Flex Finance, a mobile ecosystem that helps MSMEs and solo entrepreneurs better manage and track their daily business expenses and finances, raised a six-figure US dollar pre-seed funding round to support its growth. The round included Gumroad CEO Sahil Lavingia, LoftyInc Capital Management, Berrywood Capital, Paradox Capital, Kairos Angels, Brett Kopf, Julian Shapiro, Maneesh Arora, and others. 

Nigerian E-Commerce Startup TradeDepot Raises USD 110 Mn Series B Round

Nigerian startup TradeDepot, a B2B e-commerce and embedded finance platform raised USD 110 Mn in an equity and debt Series B funding round to support the delivery of buy-now-pay-later services to five million SME retailers and drive further expansion of its merchant platform across the continent. The round was led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), with participation from Novastar, Sahel Capital, CDC Group, Endeavor Catalyst, and existing investors, Partech and MSA Capital. Arcadia Funds led the debt funding.

Nigerian Fintech Startup Herconomy Secures USD 600 K Funding

Herconomy, a community-based startup that empowers women through financial services, capacity building, jobs, and networking, raised USD 600 K in a pre-seed round to extend its platform’s product offerings. Members of the Herconomy community, venture capital firm Oui Capital, and a slew of angel investors led the pre-seed round. The investors included Nkiru Ayemere, CEO of Zephans & Co; Ehi Onwudiwe, Director of Business Transformation at Ernst & Young; Ope Makinwa, Head of Reserve at Diageo; Ama Akpata, co-founder of Jand2Gidi, and a slew of others.

South African HRTech OfferZen Secures USD 5 Mn Series A Funding

South African tech talent marketplace OfferZen raised a EUR4.5 Mn (USD 5.1 Mn) Series A funding round from Base Capital as it bids to deepen its expansion into European markets. This is OfferZen’s first round of external funding, wi Base Capitalth the startup having been bootstrapped since its founding in 2015.

Equinix Is Acquiring Nigeria’s MainOne For USD 320 Mn

Equinix announced that it is acquiring MainOne, a West African data center, and connectivity solutions provider with a presence in Nigeria, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast, for USD 320 Mn. The acquisition is expected to close in Q1 of 2022, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions including the requisite regulatory approvals.

Payments Company CinetPay Secures USD 2.4 Mn Seed Round

CinetPay, a digital finance platform that enables merchants in Francophone Africa to seamlessly accept and make payments, announced a USD 2.4 Mn seed fundraising round from 4DX Ventures and Flutterwave. The investment will help to boost CinetPay’s sales and marketing efforts across nine markets in West and Central Africa.

Nigerian Crypto Startup Payourse Raises USD 600 K Pre-Seed Round

Payourse, the crypto startup behind Coinprofile and Simpa, raised USD 600 K in a pre-seed round to scale its products, hire more talents, and expand into new markets. The round included Flori Ventures, Voltron Capital, Allegory Capital, and angel investors like Freeme Digital Limited CEO Michael Ugwu, CELO co-founders Marek Olszewski and Rene Reinsberg, Ventures Platform Founding Partner Kola Aina, Oluwatobi Anisere, and Angel Touch Holdings.

Kenyan Marketplace Pariti Raises USD 2.85 Mn Seed Round

Pariti, a Kenya-based community-led marketplace seeking to build a digital infrastructure for startup ecosystems in emerging markets, raised USD 2.85 Mn seed funding. The round was led by U.S.-based Harlem Capital with participation from Better Ventures, Accelerated Ventures, Diverse Angels, AVG Basecamp, and New General Market Partners.

Egyptian Startup Filkhedma Raises Bridge Funding Round

Egyptian home services marketplace Filkhedma raised a bridge round of funding from Cairo Angels. The investment by Cairo Angels will help the startup grow its home cleaning and beauty services and generate more GMV from its B2B2C partnerships.

Egyptian Waste Management Startup Plstka Secures Seed Funding

Plstka, an Egypt-based Tech startup closed an undisclosed Seed funding round from Alexandria Angels Network with a matching fund from Hivos. The startup primarily works in the Delta region and plans to use the funds to expand to more cities across Egypt.

Kenyan Startup Kwara Raises USD 4 Mn Seed Round

Kwara, a Kenyan startup helping turn traditional savings cooperatives into modern digital banks, raised a USD 4 Mn seed funding round to develop its neobank app ahead of its upcoming release. The round was led by Breega, and also includes SoftBank Vision Fund Emerge, Finca Ventures, New General Market Partners, Globivest, Do Good Invest, Rabacap, Launch Africa, Norrsken Impact Accelerator, Future Africa, Samurai Incubate, and DOB Equity. Several fintech executives also participated including, founders of Meltwater, The Flex Company, and ComplyAdvantage, and executives from Salesforce and PayPal.

Egyptian Entertainment Startup Minly Acquires Dubai’s Oulo

Egyptian media and entertainment startup Minly announced the acquisition of Oulo, a Dubai-based celebrity shoutout platform focused on the Levant region, as it expands within the MENA region. The merged business will operate under the Minly brand and roll out its combined experience offerings across the entire region. As part of the transaction, Oulo’s founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Kamal Nazha will join Minly as the chief commercial officer (CCO).

Tunisian Delivery Startup LAMMA Acquires E-Commerce Platform Farm Trust

LAMMA, a last-mile delivery startup, announced the acquisition of Farm Trust, a startup specializing in e-commerce products from healthy and ecological agriculture, as it accelerates the execution of its Quick Commerce strategy. The Farm Trust brand will maintain its independence and expand its product line with the acquisition.

South African Fintech Entersekt Secures Investment

Entersekt, a global payment security company headquartered in Cape Town, announced a strategic investment from Accel-KKR, a leading technology-focused private equity firm. The investment will enable Entersekt to accelerate its roadmap and fuel expansion into new markets. 

Kenyan Healthtech MYDAWA Receives USD 2.1 Mn Grant Funding

MYDAWA, an e-pharmacy platform in Kenya, was awarded a grant of USD 1.2 Mn from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant is aimed at increasing access to PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) services through MYDAWA’s award-winning e-pharmacy model, supporting the fight against HIV& AIDS in Kenya.

Nigerian Edtech Startup uLesson Secures USD 15 Mn Series B Round

Nigerian edtech startup uLesson secured USD 15 Mn in Series B funding it will use to add to its team and improve services for its growing community of learners across Africa. The funding comes from Nielsen Ventures and Tencent, as well as existing investors, Owl Ventures, TLcom Capital, and Founder Collective. The startup plans to continue to invest in product development, strengthen its core technology and add cohort-based learning features.

E-Commerce Startup Kamioun Secures USD 400 K Investment To Expand

Kamioun, a Tunisian e-commerce startup that connects Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) manufacturers to retailers, secured USD 400 K in an investment round. The round was led by pan-African investment fund Janngo Capital, with the participation of Anava Seed Fund (Flat6labs fund), Dakar Network Angels, existing and new business angels. Kamioun intends to use the funds to expand its product distribution, improve operations and solutions, add people, and accelerate expansion in order to reach more shops and convert them to active users.

Kenyan Agritech Startup Shamba Pride Raises USD 1.1 Mn Funding Round

Kenyan agri-tech startup Shamba Pride raised a USD 1.1 Mn funding round from Seedstars Africa Ventures and Gray Matters Capital to support its expansion across the country and roll out its solution to over 1,000 shops.

South African Fintech Investor Crossfin Acquired By Consortium Of Investors

South African fintech investment firm Crossfin Technology Holdings was acquired by a consortium of investors in a ZAR1.5 billion (USD 93 Mn) deal. The consortium was led by Ethos’ Mid-Market Fund I (EMMF I) that also includes the founding Crossfin executive management team, EMMF I co-investors Ethos Artificial Intelligence Fund I, and African Rainbow Capital.

Egyptian Startup Sympl Raises USD 6 Mn Seed Round

Cairo-based fintech Sympl raised a USD 6 Mn Seed round led by Beco Capital, along with A15 and Global Ventures. The startup plans to use the funding to accelerate the growth of its online and in-store merchant network, as well as improve the product offering to better serve the platform customers.